Tacking Into the Wind (episode)
Gowron begins reckless attacks against the Dominion; Kira and the Cardassians plot to steal a Breen weapon. (Part 6 of 9) Summary As Kira and Garak continue to instruct Damar and the Cardassian Rebellion on the finer points of sabotage, tensions grow between Kira and Gul Rusot. When Odo returns from a successful raid on enemy dilithium storage bunkers, he appears noticeably exhausted. Retiring to an empty bunkroom, Odo slouches down and loses his ability to hold a smooth shape; he appears to be decomposing at the cellular level. Garak enters the room suddenly and encounters an embarassed Odo, who admits his sickness, and then swears the Cardassian to secrecy; Kira mustn't find out. Back on Deep Space 9, Doctor Bashir has reached a dead end in trying to cure Odo's illness. Chief O'Brien reminds the doctor that their best option is to notify Captain Sisko of their suspicions regarding Section 31, but Bashir refuses, fearing that alerting Section 31 will only make them harder to beat. Klingon chancellor Gowron is trying to blame General Martok for a recent defeat in battle. Yet Sisko sides with Martok, blaming Gowron for creating a poor battle strategy. Gowron backs down, agreeing not to yet punish the severely-wounded Martok. The Female Changeling seeks to crush the Cardassian Rebellion as quickly as possible. She appears ragged and in a state of decomposition. She begins taking sides with Thot Pran of the Breen, inquiring of poor Weyoun (a clone) when the cloning facilities will be fixed. She institutes strict new penalties on the of Cardassia Prime, which are eerily silimar to prior Cardassian policies toward Bajor during the occupation. In the midst of her training sessions, Kira hatches a scheme to infiltrate a Cardassian repair facility in the Kelvas system; if they can successfully steal a Jem'Hadar ship outfitted with the Breen energy dampening weapon, it may improve Starfleet's chances of finding a counter-measure. Garak warns Kira privately to not bring along Odo, because of his deteriorating condition; she admits knowing about his illness, and asks Garak to keep this secret from Odo, to improve his morale. Sisko and Worf discuss Gowron's treatment of Martok, who will recover from his wounds, and Worf suggests that Gowron's motivations are political, since he feels threatened by the popularity of Martok. Worf notes shrewdly that it would not be the first time that a Klingon chancellor put his own interests ahead of the greater good. Worf has a plan -- a risky plan -- to stop Gowron from squandering his fleet in an attempt to discredit and humiliate Martok. Tensions continue to escalate between Kira and Rusot, until he crosses the line by physically touching her. She strikes him repeatedely, and then puts him into a disabling head-lock. After the confrontation, a beaten Rusot vows to exact revenge after the war. When he exits, Garak emerges from the shadows, suggesting to Kira that she kill Rusot, before he kills her. Worf asks a bedridden Martok to stand up to Gowron and challenge him for leadership of the Empire. Martok refuses to carry out a mutiny during a time of war, despite the chancellor's behavior. Worf tells Ezri Dax that she has been deemed (in lieu of Jadzia) a member of the House of Martok. He asks Ezzri for her opinion, despite her warning htat she won't like it. Ezri thinks that the Klingon Empire is dying, and should be allowed to die. She, unlike Jadzia and Curzon before her, does not posess a romantic view of the Empire, and says she finds it strange that an Empire that prides itself on honor is willing to accept corruption at the highest level. Worf doesn't like it, but knows she is correct. Docking with the Jem'Hadar ship, Garak, Damar and Rusot pretend to hold Kira prisoner, seeking to present her to the Vorta commanding the ship. The Cardassian guard, who recognizes Damar, allows them to pass. The shackles binding Kira's wrists suddenly morph into Odo, who promptly disappears beneath the ship's deck plates. The three Cardassians and their Bajoran "prisoner" march to the bridge and confront the commander, a female Vorta. Without warning, Odo appears on the bridge as the Female Changeling, surprising the Vorta as well as the Jem'Hadar. When the "Founder" asks to inspect a plasma rifle, Odo flips the weapon to Garak, who kills the Vorta and the Jem'Hadar warriors. Having thus secured the bridge of the enemy vessel, they nevertheless could not yet depart; the installation of the Breen weapon (in engineering) was incomplete. Garak estimates they will need to wait precariously on the bridge for another 30 to 45 minutes. When they receive an incoming transmission for the Vorta Commander, Luaran, Kira disables the visual feed and successfully handles the routine call. They hunker down, hoping to not stir any suspicions. O'Brien brings some crab rolls prepared by his wife Keiko to Bashir, who is slaving away working on a cure for Odo. O'Brien suggests that the doctor deviously report to Starfleet Medical that he has found a cure. This, O'Brien reasons, will lure someone from Section 31 to the station, a someone who may be able to point them in the right direction toward a real cure. When Gowron continues his overly aggressive battle strategies, Worf, reminded by his earlier conversation with Ezri, stands and challenges Gowron's leadership of the Empire; they battle with bat'leths to the death -- to Gowron's death, stabbed in the midsection by Worf. The chancellor's robe is immediately thrown around Worf, who refuses to accept leadership of the Empire. He effectively abdicates the throne, bestowing the chancellorship upon Martok. As a depleted Odo tries to hang on to his shape, Kira comforts him. However, Rusot challenges Kira, pointing his weapon at her. She is covered by Garak, who points his weapon at Rusot. Damar ends the standoff by shooting Rusot, whose hatred of Bajorans has overwhelmed him. They leave the station with the Breen weapon intact, Kira comforting a quickly-depreciating Odo. Memorable Quotes "I do not seek the Leadership." "Kahless said, 'Great men do not seek power, they have power thrust upon them.'" :-'Martok', Worf "Hail Martok, leader of the Empire! Leader of destiny." :-'Worf' "If the cloning facilities were still operational, I would have this Weyoun killed." :-'Female Changeling' Background Information *J.G. Hertzler (General/Chancellor Martok) and John Vickery (Gul Rusot) would later appear in ENT: Judgment together. They played Kolos and Orak respectively. *This episode marks the final appearance of Robert O'Reilly as Chancellor Gowron, a role he began playing in the 1990 TNG episode "Reunion". *Gul Rusot (John Vickery) also dies in this episode. *With the death of Gowron, General Martok becomes the Klingon chancellor. *Armin Shimerman's wife Kitty Swink makes another DS9 guest appearance here as Luaran. She had made a previous guest appearance as Rozahn in "Sanctuary". Links and References Guest Stars *Andrew J. Robinson as Elim Garak *Jeffrey Combs as Weyoun *Casey Biggs as Legate Damar *J.G. Hertzler as General Martok *Robert O'Reilly as Gowron *John Vickery as Gul Rusot *Salome Jens as Female Changeling *Kitty Swink as Luaran *J. Paul Boehmer as Vornar References 2375; Avenal VII; Avenal system; Battle of Cardassia; bloodwine; Breen; Breen Confederacy; Cardassian Orders; Cardassian Rebellion; Damar; energy dampening weapon; Ezri Dax; Elim Garak; Gowron; ''Hideki''-class; Jem'Hadar attack ship; Kelvas repair facility; Kelvas V; Kelvas system; Klingon Bird-of-Prey; Klingon Empire; Luaran; Martok; ''Miranda''-class; phased polaron beam; William Ross; [[IKS Rotarran|IKS Rotarran]]; Rusot; Sarpeidon; Sarpedion V; Second Battle of Chin'toka; Section 31; Luther Sloan; ''Vor'cha''-class; Vornar; Weyoun; Worf. Category:DS9 episodes de:Kampf mit allen Mitteln nl:Tacking Into the Wind